Privacy Group Demands Google Street View U.K. Be Shut Down

A lobbying group called Privacy International drafted a formal letter to the U.K. Information Commissioner asking that the department investigate the service--and shut it down in the meantime.

That didn't take long: Google just launched its U.K. version of Street View, and already privacy groups in that country are demanding that the company shut it down. A lobbying group called Privacy International drafted a formal letter to the U.K. Information Commissioner asking that the department investigate the service--and shut it down in the meantime.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was quick to respond to the complaint, telling the BBC, "The way we address it is by allowing people to opt out, literally to take anything we capture that is inappropriate out... We are getting controversy over Street View because it is so successful. It turns out that people love to see what is going on in their local community."

Privacy International's director, Simon Davies, had some harsh words for the service, saying that it caused residents, "clear embarrassment and damage." He added, "We're asking for the system to be switched off while an investigation is completed. The Information Commissioner never grasped the gravity of how a benign piece of legislation could affect ordinary lives."

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
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